The Ninth Section of the Cultural Revolution

  Zhuang Jihua was delighted, and his classmates all had courtesy names. Although he didn't think much of it, others found it somewhat inconvenient. Classmates usually addressed each other by their courtesy names, and surnames were rarely mentioned. Jiang Xianyun and He Zhenhan had long suggested that he take a courtesy name.

  "I have read your exam paper, you said that the root cause of China's weakness lies in Confucian culture and it needs to be improved. I fully agree with this view. Now some scholars think that Confucian culture is outdated and claim that we should abandon Confucian culture and fully adopt Western culture. This is pure nonsense! Confucian culture needs innovation, not abandonment. Loyalty, filial piety, integrity, and shame will always be the behavioral norms for Chinese people, whether now or in the future. Take you for example, living abroad but with your heart still in your motherland, traveling thousands of miles to join the revolution - this is a manifestation of the call of Chinese culture. Cultural innovation needs young talents like you to work hard. So I think that after the revolution, what do you think?" Chiang Kai-shek explained when he saw that Zhuang Jihua did not understand.

  "My god, that article was just an exam, just one article. Zhuang Jihua couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. It's not possible no matter what. The Cultural Revolution is a bit too early."

  "Principal, such words, students can't take it." Zhuang Jihua looked terrified.

  "Can't take it? Are you dissatisfied?" Chiang Kai-shek had put in a lot of thought regarding Zhuang Jihua. After returning, he had been paying close attention to Zhuang Jihua, and not just him, but also Jiang Xiyun, Li Zhilong, He Zizhen, Hu Zongnan, Guan Linzheng, Chen Gong, and others who were considered outstanding individuals among his Huangpu classmates. To be more precise, he was concerned with every single Huangpu student, knowing all the major and minor events in school. Later generations knew that Chiang Kai-shek was famously fond of his first batch of Huangpu classmates, including those who joined the Communist Party. While others could be executed on the spot if caught, Huangpu students had to be reported to Chiang Kai-shek for handling. After Yunqiao, he became convinced that Zhuang Jihua was a talented individual. Some of Zhuang's remarks and views expressed under duress after entering Huangpu further solidified his belief that this person must be utilized by him. For this purpose, he specially devised a plan to win over Zhuang Jihua.

  "No, no, how can students, with their limited knowledge and shallow virtue, bear the heavy responsibility of revolutionizing culture?"

  This remark pleased Chiang Kai-shek very much. He had expected Zhuang Jiehua to refuse, and if she could be won over so easily, she wouldn't be a talent after all.

  "The purpose of taking the literary revolution is to hope that young people will participate in the cultural innovation, expressing a kind of aspiration, rather than other things." Chiang Kai-shek explained patiently, but the underlying implication was that I know you can't bear the burden of innovating culture, this is just a show of my concern for you.

  This shows that politicians speak in a roundabout way, Zhuang Jihua was far from it, he didn't understand this at all, he just thought Chiang Kai-shek was pulling him over, of course, he was also willing to be pulled over. Since he decided not to join the Communist Party, then Chiang Kai-shek's big tree could still be relied on. But Wen Xin...

  "Principal, the students are not dissatisfied, but terrified. The students think that the burden of reforming Chinese culture is not for people like Premier, Principal, and Political Commissar to bear alone, others cannot undertake it, and the students should follow the Premier and Principal."

  In Zhuang Jihua's view, this was a way to avoid talking about the Cultural Revolution, but in Chiang Kai-shek's ears, it became "the principal has accepted my love". Chiang Kai-shek was overjoyed in his heart, he didn't expect Zhuang Jihua to be so tactful, and on the surface, he said: "Oh no, you're being too kind, Premier is of course okay, I, Chiang, don't have such ability yet."

  He couldn't deceive Zhuang Jihua with that attitude, but Zhuang Jihua was a bit strange. After some thought, he understood that Chiang Kai-shek's position in the Kuomintang was not high at present. After Sun Yat-sen, it was Hu Hanmin, then Wang Jingwei and Liao Zhongkai. Chiang Kai-shek hadn't even been ranked yet, and couldn't even keep up with Xu Chongzhi.

  Zhuang Jihua smiled secretly in his heart, but his face was very serious: "The Premier is naturally the first person, apart from this, I think the principal is not a bad choice, others will eventually be under the principal." Seeing Chiang Kai-shek's face showed doubt, he explained: "Why could Napoleon become France's pride, and Washington become America's father? The only thing they have in common is that they are soldiers. In this chaotic world, soldiers are the strongest and most powerful people. Even if they start from a lower point, those who will eventually dominate the situation must be soldiers, not politicians."

  Seeing Chiang Kai-shek's thoughtful expression, he took the opportunity to drive it home: "The political commissar is generous and magnanimous, this is his strong point and advantage, but also his weakness and shortcoming." Seeing Chiang Kai-shek's confusion, he explained: "Today's China needs a strong and powerful figure to save the country, and the people also hope for such a strong and powerful figure. Why? Because since ancient times, China has been a centralized power, with the idea of wise and honest officials deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. At the same time, for the country to rapidly become powerful, it needs a strong and powerful government, a strong and powerful leader. Such a leader will not come from scholars, but must come from military men. Looking around at today's China, who can take on this role? Apart from the school president, no one else can do it. Therefore, I think that apart from the Premier, the person to reform culture cannot be anyone other than the school president."

  Chiang Kai-shek was overjoyed, not because of what Zhuang Jihua said, but because of his attitude. He thought that Zhuang Jihua was showing his stance to him, and he knew that Zhuang Jihua had not joined the Communist Party. Although many students had also not joined the Communist Party, Zhuang Jihua's relationship with Jiang Xiyun and Li Zhilong was very close, and with his relationship with Jiang Xiyun and Li Zhilong, he did not choose to join the Communist Party, which was a rare thing. Since Zhuang Jihua stayed in the Nationalist Party, if he didn't follow him, he would have to follow Liao Zhongkai or Wang Jingwei. As for Hu Hanmin and Xu Chongzhi, he didn't even consider them, as young people like that looked down on old men like Hu and Xu. The only one he needed to be wary of was Deng Yanda.

  Chiang Kai-shek thought of this and was about to speak, but suddenly felt that something was not right. How could Zhuang Jihua be so easy-going? No, he must be fooling him. So he decided to continue probing: "The Cultural Revolution, Huangpu now has only a few hundred students, although I have high hopes for these comrades, but with just this handful of people, it's impossible to achieve such great things."

  When Chiang Kai-shek's words were listless, Zhuang Jihua was delighted to say "Don't deceive me", this truth you knew long ago, since you don't want to say it, then I'll make it clear for you.

  "Principal, now there are only a few hundred people in Huangpu, but this is just the first batch. Later, there will be a second batch, a third batch... With one batch of several hundred people, and several batches making up thousands of people, as the ancient saying goes 'it's easy to get an army of a thousand soldiers, but hard to find a good general'. Having these few hundred cadres, with so many Chinese people, we can first recruit a regiment, then form a division, and eventually an army. Within two years, Guangdong will be under the control of the Huangpu Army, and within ten years, China will be unified under the Huangpu Army."

  "Haha, Wenge, you're too optimistic. Of course, being optimistic isn't a bad thing. Although the revolution is arduous, we revolutionaries should always maintain an optimistic and upward spirit. Wenge, you've done very well." Chiang Kai-shek finally smiled. Naturally, he knew all about what Zhuang Jihua had said - things like seizing power and unifying the country under one rule hadn't occurred to him, but he also had such confidence. The Northern Expedition was also his dream, and Zhuang Jihua had just scratched an itch for him.

  The two people's mind games have come to an end for now, the atmosphere on site is very good, and Zhuang Jihua can only sadly accept the new text.

  "During the Cultural Revolution, there's something I want to criticize you about. You were playing on the beach, although it was during your break time and didn't affect your studies, but as soldiers, you should always be mindful of your words and actions." Chiang Kai-shek's tone was gentle despite his criticism.

  "Principal, you've misunderstood us, we're not playing, we're training."

  "Training? What training?" Chiang Kai-shek looked at Zhuang Jihua with suspicion.

  Then Zhuang Jihua explained to him the role of beach training, the purpose of game training. Chiang Kai-shek still had some doubts, so he instilled fitness theory into Chiang Kai-shek, what biceps, quadriceps, chest muscles and so on. Listening to Chiang Kai-shek's head spinning, but he finally knew that this was a training method from the United States, it was advanced technology. So he didn't plan to discuss this topic anymore, seemingly casually saying: "Wen Ge, Xuan Xiaofu, what did your classmates say when you left school?"

  Note: The character "Wen Ge" was inspired by "Republic of China Affairs", thanks to Brother You Ran Gu Xing.